The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
Good information allows for good decisions. Unfortunately, we take in so much information in so many different forms every day, it is hard to make sense of it all. The amount of data available to be analyzed continues to grow as more and more human activity moves on-line. As more and more information is collected from more and more places, making sense of that information in a unified way becomes increasingly difficult.
For example, a salesperson may have hundreds of contacts and interactions to track and manage, new deals to pursue and close, and existing customer relationships to cultivate and maintain. Customers are demanding more and better service, delivered through every conceivable channel.
Large strides have been made in processing power and storage to enable the collection and storage of information. But, without tools to make sense of that data and use it selectively to answer key questions, the data is useless.
Therefore, there is a need for improved systems and techniques for managing information.